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As large sheaves may be gathered by diligence in picking 
up single straws, so much instruction may be gleaned 
from lessons on very humble subjects. 



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1 1 



BY THE AUTHOR OF "LITTLE THINGS." 



"I thought on my ways, and turned my feet unto thy testimonies." 
Psalm cxix. 59. 



$feilabtlpfeis: 

AMERICAN SUNDAY-SCHOOL UNION, 

No. 31S CHESTNUT STREET. 

NEW YORK: No. H7 NASSAU ST BOSTON- No. 9 CORNHILL. 

LOUISVILLE: No. 103 FOURTH ST. 



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Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1854, by the 
AMERICAN SUNDAY-SCHOOL UNION, 

in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the Eastern District of 
Pennsylvania. 



4®=* No books are published by the American Sunday-School Union 
toithout the sanction of the Committee of Publication, consisting of four- 
teen members, from the following denominations of Christians, viz. Bap- 
tist, Methodist, Congregational, Episcopal, PresbyteHan, Lutheran, and 
Reformed Dutch. Not more than three of the members can be of the same 
denomination, and no book can be published to which any member of the 
Committee shall object 



CONTENTS. 



PAGS 

What do you Live for 9 

On Completeness of Character 25 

On Earnestness 37 

On Diligence 46 

On Influence 57 

On Wandering Thoughts 70 

Minor Morals 78 



1* 



INTRODUCTION. 



I fear too many of my young friends have never 
seriously asked themselves the question, " Why was 
I sent into the world V They are content to live 
for their own pleasure, and rather feel as if serious 
thought on any subject was unnecessary at their 
time of life, and that as care and anxiety will come 
some time, perhaps their best plan is to enjoy them- 
selves now, and let the future take care of itself. 
You may perhaps feel that it is a gloomy thing to 
be religious — that, at least, you would rather not 
think of it just yet — that it involves a life of constant 
self-denial, and so meanwhile you will enjoy the 
pleasures natural to your time of life, and when 
older, it will be time enough to think of these things. 
Advice and exhortation to such thoughtless ones, 
to consider the shortness and uncertainty of life, and 
•the awful importance of eternity, are alike unheeded. 
They will not believe that true happiness and true 



8 INTRODUCTION. 



religion are the same, and that the service of God is 
perfect freedom, and debars his followers from no 
rational pleasure, from no pursuit that exalts and 
refines the mind. Yet they are not always satisfied 
that they are in the right — they do sometimes feel 
uneasy — there are times when conscience will be 
heard, and thoughts of misspent days and sad neg- 
lect of the soul's best interests will arise — too often, 
alas ! to be put aside by renewed thoughtlessness 
and folly. But I would hope that some who may 
look into this little work may be, at least, inquiring 
what use they are of, or feeling that they are only 
standing idle in the market-place " because no man 
hath hired them f and to such I would earnestly 
appeal, requesting them to consider their ways, and 
to resolve that, whatever others do, they will serve 
the Lord. 



THINGS TO BE THOUGHT OP. 



Wjiit to gra ffc for? 

"Lord, what wilt thou have me to do ?" — Acts ix. 6. 

HE quotation that we would 
thus press upon the young is 
5^ inexpressibly important. It 
includes all we have to do on 
earth, whether as connected 
with this world's duties, mere- 
ly, or with the most interesting ques- 
tion of our preparation for eternity. 
The earnest seeking after the sal- 
vation, or complete sanctification of the soul, is 
clearly the chief work we have to do, a work 
leading to the great end of " glorifying God, 
and enjoying him for ever." There is no con- 
dition or circumstances that we can plead as an 
excuse for neglecting this great work ; for the 
command is imperative on all, " Seek ye first 
the kingdom of God and his righteousness;" 
and the Saviour's promise of acceptance is alike 
universal ; " He that cometh unto me I will in no 

9 




10 WHAT DO YOU LIVE FOR: 



wise cast out." It is along with this first great 
duty, and as growing out of it, that we counsel 
the young to take a review of their circum- 
stances, character, and capabilities, so as to en- 
deavour to ascertain in what way they may 
best do His will in all things. 

We all know and acknowledge that we are 
not sent into this world to live for ourselves, 
for our own interests or amusements — yet 
how many do so ? And even of those who have 
from choice or circumstances been led to follow 
a more useful path, how few have first asked, 
" Lord, what wilt thou have me to do ?" If we 
have been brought to feel that we " are not our 
own, but are bought with a price," surely this 
reference of ourselves to the will of God will 
seem our most reasonable proceeding. If we 
have a sincere desire to know and to do that 
will, we need not fear that we shall be allowed 
to go astray. To those who are thus begin- 
ning life I would say, Take a calm, considerate 
view of your position, your advantages and 
disadvantages, your talents, your disposition, 
the station in life to which God hath called you, 
and try if you cannot, by those providential 
arrangements, ascertain in some measure what 
God requires of you. 



WHAT DO YOU LIVE FOR? 11 



Next to making an inquiry of this sort in the 
sincere spirit of wishing to know God's will, it 
is of importance that you should consider it as 
regards yourself. The question implies this 
also, "Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?" 
The field is wide enough for all to work in, but 
it is surely neither necessary nor possible that 
all should do the same work. Sometimes it 
happens that young people, in their zeal to do 
good, are eager to engage in schemes of visiting 
or teaching, because they see others thus en- 
gaged, without considering whether their calling 
may not be different, or their gifts lie in another 
line ; and finding that they do little good, or 
can only attend to these self-imposed duties by- 
neglecting others which they know to be in- 
cumbent on them, they grow discouraged, and 
are apt to fall back. 

It is not, indeed, always easy to ascertain 
what we are fit for. Some by their zeal, or 
self-confidence, are led to attempt too much; 
while others, from diffidence, or it may be in- 
dolence, decline all but the simplest and most 
obvious duties. The rule that we generally do 
well what we like to do, will not hold here : for 
useful exertion generally implies resolute self- 
denial; and there are times when neither the 



12 WHAT DO YOU LIVE FOR? 



most zealous, nor the best fitted for the work, 
will like it. There may also, sometimes, be a 
risk of our mistaking our calling by supposing 
that if we are doing what we dislike to do, we 
must be doing what is right. There is, per- 
haps, no great fear of too many people being 
led astray by an excess of self-denial ; for ten 
that will find out that what it is disagreeable to 
do cannot be their duty, one, perhaps, may 
feel and act as if the dislike to the duty made 
it therefore right for them to do it. Now if in 
thus endeavouring to find out what good you can 
do, you do conscientiously feel that it is not 
from indolence or self-indulgence that you dis- 
like the work you have begun, I would say that 
you have less chance of being useful in it than 
some others may have, who having more na- 
tural capacity for it, take to it more kindly. 

In the matter of teaching in a Sunday- 
school this may be often seen exemplified ; for 
though an earnest desire to do good, and prac- 
tice and preparation go far in making a good 
teacher, still these are not enough. There 
must be, I think, some natural capacity for the 
work, a power of being interesting to, and un- 
derstood by children, that every one does not 
possess. District visiting, too, requires more 



WHAT DO YOU LIVE FOR? 13 



judgment and good sense than are always be- 
stowed upon it. But besides these departments 
requiring more tact and experience than is usu- 
ally found in the young, there are many to 
whom they are denied, either from their po- 
sition, or from the wish of their parents, or 
from their other duties. To such, and indeed 
to all, who wish to begin to live for some good 
purpose, I would say, Take up the duty that 
lies nearest to you, however humble it may be. 
Do not let your desires to do much good pre- 
vent your doing a little when it is in your 
power, as the very training you will get by 
these daily endeavours will fit and prepare you 
for more extended operations, should God see 
fit to call you to them. 

In this review of your fitness and opportu- 
nities for doing the will of God, you must take 
into account your condition of life as regards 
your self-improvement. Too many young peo- 
ple seem to think, that when done with school 
they have done with all they learned there, 
forgetting that all they have already acquired 
is but, as it were, the framework for a building 
yet to be begun, and which, day by day, their 
efforts and energies are to be employed in finish- 
ing. If God has placed you in a station of life 

2 



14 WHAT DO YOU LIVE FOR? 



where no labour for your own maintenance, or 
that of others, is required, and where you have 
much leisure time, if you have received an edu- 
cation comprising accomplishments as well as 
more serious acquirements, it is clearly your 
duty not to lose the advantages thus bestowed 
upon you, but rather to cultivate whatever of 
the more elegant arts of life your talents lead 
you toward. 

Though inclination or disinclination be not a 
safe rule in duty, the choice may now be in 
some degree allowed you as to which of your 
acquired accomplishments you will continue 
most sedulously to cultivate. If you are gifted 
with musical powers, or a talent for drawing, 
your own inclinations will probably lead you to 
follow out those delightful arts. For the sake 
of others, as well as for your own gratification, 
it is your duty to do so, and to resist the pleas 
of indolence or idleness which may make you 
fancy that you need not now practise either 
accomplishment with the diligence or persever- 
ance you were required to put forth in their ac- 
quisition. The very fact that you now keep up 
and extend your acquirements and powers with 
comparatively little trouble, ought to make you 
feel it more incumbent on you not to lose them. 



WHAT DO YOU LIVE FOR? 15 



It may seem unnecessary thus to urge those 
whose natural talent for music or drawing 
would seem rather likely to need a warning 
not to let such fascinating occupations usurp 
too much of their time. But do we not too 
frequently see those thus gifted neglect the 
exercise or cultivation of their talent to such a 
degree, that to others, who long for some share 
in their powers, it almost seems as if a coun- 
terbalance were given along with the talent, so 
as to nearly equalize those who have and those 
who have it not ? Even to those who feel that 
they have no particular talent for music or 
drawing, I would say, do not throw aside what 
you have learned, merely because others in the 
family may excel you, and because you feel that 
your powers, or acquirements, are of little use, 
and may therefore be dropped or disregarded. 
This is often clone, and frequently regretted 
afterward, when what has been thus lost can- 
not be so easily regained, and when from al- 
tered circumstances even your music would 
have been acceptable, or your feeble artistic 
powers an amusement — at least to yourself. 

I am aware that to those who have begun to 
ask themselves what they are living for, and on 
whose souls the overwhelming thought of eter- 



16 WHAT DO YOU LIVE FOR? 



nity has for the first time begun to exercise its 
full power, such advice as the above may seem 
trifling. They feel those hours misspent that 
are not in a more direct manner devoted to 
God and the good of others; and lamenting 
that their hearts are too apt to be led aside 
from serious thought, they fear to occupy 
themselves, or allow an increased interest in 
any earthly pursuit. I think, however, that 
those conscientious scruples may be met by 
considering, that in recommending the young 
to keep up the accomplishments they have ac- 
quired, it is not meant that such a course 
should be the purpose of life. These accom- 
plishments are only meant as adornments ; and 
before throwing them aside, let the question 
be asked — what shall be substituted in their 
room ? — For relaxation and amusement of some 
sort the human mind must have; and too often, 
when debarred from innocent recreation, it 
takes refuge in frivolous gossip, or the dulness 
of apathy. " Do not," it has been said, " al- 
together abandon your pursuits, but regulate 
them, and use every acquirement for God's 
glory ; wage no war with things innocent, but 
pursue them not till they become guilty." 
If cultivating accomplishment^ under re- 



WHAT DO YOU LIVE FOR? 17 



striction is a duty, it ceases to be so when 
these are made the chief work of life. Yet 
how frequently do we see young people who 
seem to have no other purpose but to pass 
their time agreeably, and whose hours are 
filled up, and their thoughts occupied by no- 
thing but fancy work, music, and dress, to the 
exclusion, not only of serious thought, but of 
all rational and intellectual occupation. Let 
such ponder the above advice, for while it is 
admitted that these things are innocent in 
themselves, and lawful and proper to be at- 
tended to, yet, if pursued as the only occupa- 
tion, they become sinful. 

I do not well know why, but fancy work 
seems to be less feared as an accomplishment 
by many who might think it wrong to spend 
hours on music or drawing. A young lady is 
generally considered industrious, if she is per- 
petually crocheting or knitting, or engaged in 
worsted work, or embroidering; while there 
can be no doubt that these are much less intel- 
lectual amusements than the fine arts, give 
less pleasure to others, and ought to occupy 
little of the time of those who can do better 
things. It is not now, however, considered so 

unfeminine as it once was, that a young lady 

2* 



18 WHAT DO YOU LIVE FOR? 



should both read and study for her own im- 
provement. The silly accusation of being a 
"blue-stocking" need not now be apprehended 
if a lady is found to prefer improving her mind 
to the mechanical exercise of her fingers; nor 
is it now believed to be a necessary conse- 
quence of the love of reading, that a woman 
will neglect her dress, despise domestic duties, 
and talk inconsiderately of books which she 
may not understand. 

The cultivation of the mind and its various 
powers is clearly a duty, being one of the 
means put into our power by which we may 
glorify God, and do good to others. Besides 
these more active exercises of our powers, the 
negative advantages of a cultivated mind are 
neither few nor small. I mean by these the 
freedom from the love of petty gossip, the 
power of employing one's-self, and the happy 
independence of outward sources of amuse- 
ment, to say nothing of the growing power of 
the mind itself to gain new knowledge, and 
be interested in a greater variety of pursuits. 
One of the answers to the question we have 
taken as our motto may be — to cultivate, im- 
prove, and thus increase the mental powers be- 
stowed on us. 



WHAT DO YOU LIVE FOR? 19 



One of the chief means of doing this is by 
reading. Now, though there are few tastes 
so valuable as a love of reading, and few peo- 
ple to be so much pitied as those who have it 
not, yet, like all other enjoyments, it needs a 
guard, both as to the time devoted to it, and 
the books read. It is a sad abuse of this love 
to expend it all on light or merely amusing 
works: yet how often does the expression " a 
great reader," indicate nothing more than such 
a course ? Those who pursue it become, at 
length, so vitiated and weakened in taste, that 
all steady reading is disliked, and amusement 
alone is sought for in what ought to be one of 
our principal means of mental improvement. 
I am not sure but that the most general idea 
of the desirableness of a love of reading con- 
sists in regarding it as a mere amusement. 
Perhaps it is from the prevalence of this mis- 
taken view, that, to many people, the idea of 
industry is only suggested by work, of how- 
ever useless a nature; while hours spent in 
reading are considered to be, at least, but an 
innocent and amusing manner of spending the 
time. I would advise every young person to 
dismiss this false notion, and to make it a 
point of duty to read daily such books as will 



20 WHAT DO YOU LIVE FOR? 



require careful attention, to study sometimes, 
and read at others, and to consider no scheme 
of self-improvement complete unless it includes 
a little tougher work in this respect than they 
may always find amusing. 

In recommending daily hours for steady 
reading, I would also advise some regular 
plan, both of study and of time, to be thus 
employed. Dr. Chalmers's advice on this sub- 
ject was, "The first essential to a pleasant and 
productive employment of your time is, the 
regular and systematic distribution of it. This 
does not supersede the relaxations of society, 
domestic concerns, light reading, and exercise 
out of doors. The truth is, that the zest of 
the last is greatly heightened by the previous 
tension and fatigue which you may have incur- 
red throughout those parts of the day which are 
given to the more serious pursuits of instruction 
and self-improvement. Kegulate your hours, 
then ; for it were quite vain to offer any advice 
to those who will not relinquish the habit of 
living at random, and living as they list." 

There can be no doubt that this true culti- 
vation of the mind adds to our usefulness, and 
often does so in a way we little expected. 
Permanent influence over the minds of others 



WHAT DO YOU LIVE FOE? 21 



is seldom acquired by any one of a frivolous 
and empty mind. There is, generally, in such, 
a sameness and common-placeness that make 
their society wearisome after a time, while 
there is a freshness and intelligent interest in 
a cultivated mind that enable it to maintain 
its influence over others, and thereby to draw 
them toward what is good. "In all labour 
there is profit," says Solomon; and though 
you may not at first find any good in what 
you have learned, beyond the strengthening of 
your own mind, you will, surely, at some time 
or other, find a use for all you have acquired. 
No one was ever heard to regret that he had 
learned too much ; but many a one does regret 
that opportunities of acquiring knowledge were 
allowed to pass unimproved, inasmuch as now it 
would be useful or desirable. Therefore, "get 
wisdom; and with all thy getting, get under- 
standing." 

It seems desirable, in some instances, to 
have a slight knowledge of some subjects of 
which a thorough knowledge cannot well be 
attained. I do not mean by this to advocate a 
young lady's getting a smattering of several 
subjects, so as to enable her to talk on them; 
nor do I mean to excuse the superficial, un- 



22 WHAT DO YOU LIVE FOR? 



persevering spirit that leads too many to fly 
off to a new study or pursuit the moment they 
are tired of what they are about. I mean 
rather, that we should cultivate a general and 
intelligent interest, and endeavour to acquire 
even a little knowledge of all important sub- 
jects, so as to have our minds awake, and 
ready to add to our store, should an oppor- 
tunity offer, or should circumstances compel or 
induce us to turn our minds more in one direc- 
tion than another. It is true, that without 
deep and devoted attention being given to one 
pursuit, no great or high excellence can be at- 
tained in it ; yet how seldom is it in the power 
or capacity of woman to give this undivided 
attention ? But because she cannot and ought 
not in general to give herself up to some one 
study or pursuit so as to make it her calling, is 
she therefore to yield her mind to trifles or 
mechanical handiworks ? 

Let me not be misunderstood as despising or 
undervaluing the truly feminine occupation of 
needlework. I would not consider any young 
lady as fully educated who has not acquired 
both a taste and a capability for sewing, not 
merely ornamental work, but good old-fashioned 
plain white seam. Our needles are not only 



WHAT DO YOU LIVE FOR? 23 



useful, but how often are they a resource that 
nothing else can supply ! How many an odd, 
idle minute do they serve to occupy usefully ; 
and when in the many hours of recovery from 
illness, or watching by the sick-bed of others, 
we cannot task our minds with even light read- 
ing, how pleasant an employment is needle- 
work, either useful or ornamental, let those say 
who have tried it. May it not be one cause 
why men in general bear long confinement 
worse than women, that they seldom have any 
means for employing their hands, while their 
heads are incapable at these times of any 
great exertion ? 

Let us consider needlework, then, as among 
our privileges; and, certainly, if we excel in it, 
there are few accomplishments that can be 
turned to such good account, both as to variety 
of usefulness and variety of amusement. It 
is a womanly accomplishment, and therefore 
we should cultivate it ; for though it may be a 
false and unnecessary fear, that attention to 
mental cultivation unfits a woman for her pro- 
per duties, still we ought to dread all departure 
from feminine habits and employments, lest it 
lead, in any measure or degree, to that dread- 
ful character, "a manly woman." " That is 



24 WHAT DO YOU LIVE FOR? 



so like a woman" — is too generally an expres- 
sion of contempt; but while, by cultivating 
her reasoning powers, and acting in accordance 
with religious principle, a woman ought to seek 
to free her character, as much as may be, from 
weakness, let her never forget that to be wo- 
manly is the highest praise that can be be- 
stowed upon her; for then only is she fulfil- 
ling the high and noble destiny to which God 
has called her. 



ON COMPLETENESS OF CHARACTER. 



®n tajltass at Cjpntcter. 

"And besides this, giving all diligence, add to your 
faith, virtue ; and to virtue, knowledge ; and to knowledge, 
temperance ; and to temperance, patience ; and to pa- 
tience, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness; 
and to brotherly kindness, charity." 

This exhortation is from the general epistle 
of the apostle Peter, and therefore we cannot 
set it aside as not addressed to us ; and the 
study of it must lead us to see how important 
to a Christian is completeness of character. There 
is no doubt a great diversity of natural dispo- 
sitions, as well as of mental characteristics,, 
and each and all of us should seek to know 
ourselves in these respects, that Ave may employ 
what is good in us to God's glory, and watch 
against the evil which, unchecked, w r ould but 
too soon and too easily choke the good seed 
and make it unfruitful. But more than this is 
required of those who would " neither be bar- 
ren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord 
Jesus Christ. " It is a comparatively easy bu- 
siness, for instance, for the naturally gentle to 
bear provocation meekly, for the naturally 



26 ON COMPLETENESS OF CHARACTER. 



warm and ardent spirit to be zealous in a good 
cause, for the naturally quiet to be keepers at 
home and to mind their own business, or for 
the naturally active and energetic to " spend 
and be spent" for Christ. 

It is right it should be so. When these na- 
tural gifts are sanctified by the Spirit, and 
made meet for the Master's use, it is right that 
they should be dedicated to Him — it is right 
that each should bring an offering as the Lord 
hath blessed him — it is right that we should 
remember that all members have not the same 
oflice. But that, " having gifts differing accord- 
ing to the grace given us/' we should serve the 
Lord with what we have, neither envying those 
who are fitted for higher posts of usefulness, 
nor undervaluing those whom we may deem 
almost useless. 

But we should not stop here. The apostle 
Peter shows us " a more excellent way." We 
are required to add to our faith virtue, and 
to virtue knowledge, &c. We are not, as it 
were, merely to grow in one grace, to be 
eminent in one field of usefulness, or to rest 
satisfied with attaining to greater complete- 
ness in the exercise of any one gift. As in 
the growth of the body, all the members must 



ON COMPLETENESS OF CHARACTER. 27 



grow equally to make it a perfect body, and 
none must be wanting, nor any one exercised 
into full vigour while the others are left unused 
and stunted ; so in the growth of the soul all 
its faculties and powers must receive due culti- 
vation, if we would seek to attain to the "sta- 
ture of a perfect man in Christ Jesus." In 
studying the description given by the apostle 
of the graces that must be added, one to 
another, to make us " neither barren nor un- 
fruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus 
Christ," we feel that if any one were observed 
to be totally wanting, or even very weak, we 
would be apt to judge unfavourably of the con- 
sistency, if not of the Christianity, of another. 
If, for instance, we knew any one who pro- 
fessed to have faith, but was evidently wanting 
in virtue ; or whom we knew had much know- 
ledge, but failed in godliness ; or professing to 
love God whom he hath not seen, yet loving 
not his brother whom he hath seen, thus not 
adding to godliness brotherly kindness, would 
we not feel a painful sense of incompleteness, 
a hesitancy even as to such a one having in 
reality even the one grace which he professed 
to have. 

Let us deal thus with ourselves. Let us not 



28 ON COMPLETENESS OF CHARACl^h. 



only avoid picking and choosing, as it were, 
what grace we shall cultivate and practise, lean- 
ing, as we should then naturally do, to what is 
easiest and most grateful to our dispositions; 
but let us go on diligently to add to those natural 
gifts, all that is here required of Christ's fol- 
lowers. It is not meant by this that all should 
do the same work, or that all will attain to the 
same perfection in any one particular. The 
differences of natural disposition and of provi- 
dential arrangement will ever make this as un- 
likely as it is uncalled-for. But seeing that 
amid all the endless diversity of God's works, 
the same completeness is manifest in each and 
all of them, so surely should we steadfastly 
strive after the like completion in the progres- 
sive sanctification of our own natures. This 
must be done, as it were, by a double work ; 
for while the cultivation of all goodness is as- 
siduously carried on, there must be an equally 
strenuous endeavour to eradicate whatever is 
evil. Each grace, each increasing degree of 
holiness, has its opposing sin to watch against, 
and vainly shall we strive to attain to the one ; 
if, at the same time, we do not resolutely, and 
with earnest prayer for grace to help, struggle 



ON COMPLETENESS OF CHARACTER. 29 



to uproot the other. The graces of the Spirit 
must not be left to take their chance. We 
must never forget that they are like exotics 
planted in an uncongenial soil; and though we 
know that we are as entirely and completely 
dependent on God's Spirit for our growth in 
grace as we are for the first renewing of our 
natures and the implanting of these graces, 
yet here is the command, " Giving all diligence, 
add" to those graces; and while humbly obe- 
dient to that command, we shall be assisted and 
guided to its fulfilment. 

It may seem unnecessary to remind any one 
that there is thus a double work to be done in 
cultivating our souls, that they may be as a 
well-watered garden, which the Lord hath 
blessed. But it is to be feared that we are 
sometimes apt to forget this ; and while con- 
scientiously striving by a diligent use of the 
means of grace to promote the sanctification of 
our nature, we are too apt to pull down with 
one hand what we build up with the other, 
from a want of watchfulness in striving against 
the opposing sin here alluded to. Do we not 
somehow feel as if our unbelief, or ungodliness, 
would yield easily and be subdued without an 

effort on our part, if only — 
3* 



SO OX COMPLETENESS OF CHARACTER. 



••In some favoured hour 
At once He'd answer my request. 
And by His love's constraining power 
Subdue my sins, and give me rest ?*' 

But where would then be the warfare ? Where 
the good fight of faith ? Where the increasing 
sense of our own insufficiency and of the ful- 
ness that is in Christ ? These lessons are to 
be learned when we find that our desired 
growth in grace cannot be obtained without a 
constant struggle to repress sin. as well as to 
cultivate holiness. 

As there are natural dispositions inclining 
each to an easier performance of some part of 
their duty, so there are " easily besetting sins/' 
which seem to follow those natural virtues like 
their shadows, and tend either to lead us into 
extremes, or so to act as to counterbalance all 
the good effects of the others. The quiet and 
gentle are often timid and indolent — the active 
and energetic, rash and irascible : prudence 
may degenerate into selfish faint-heartedness. 
and even charity become false liberality, as 
when we excuse what is in its essence wrong. 
All these errors, and many more which will 
readily occur to the thoughtful reader, are 
alike opposed to that completeness of eharac 



ON COMPLETENESS OF CHARACTER. 31 



which ought to be the object of our earnest 
endeavours ; and while we thus experience the 
difficulty of its attainment in our own case, we 
learn to judge others less harshly, and to won- 
der less at their inconsistency. 

In thus, each for herself, taking account of 
easily besetting sins, we ought to include those 
to which we are liable from age and station. 
The "sins and faults of youth" we may think 
will disappear of their own accord; and so, 
meanwhile, the young trouble not themselves ; 
hoping, if they give the subject any consi- 
deration, that they will outgroiv all these 
things, or that circumstances will change them. 
Alas ! too often there are no fears in their 
hearts. 

This want of thoughtfulness is in itself one 
of the commonest faults of youth, and the origin 
of many more. To how many does the excuse 
seem a valid one, that " they never thought 
about it," and therefore they feel that they are 
free from blame. Did they but perceive how 
much their own improvement, mental and moral, 
suffers from this absence of thought, — did they 
but realize how it interferes with the growth in 
grace which we have been urging, they would 
surely watch against it, and feel as if it should 



32 ON COMPLETENESS OE CHARACTER. 



have been left far behind, as belonging to child- 
hood rather than to youth. 

It is true that there must a season of imma- 
turity in what is good in the young, and that 
they must and do err often from inexperience, 
as well as from thoughtlessness. They are fre- 
quently led astray by their high spirits, till 
cheerfulness passes into levity and folly. But 
will added years and experience cure these 
things without their taking thought on the mat- 
ter ? I fear not, — for the truth of the proverb 
may be doubted, that "Experience teaches 
fools." Is it not rather the wise and the 
thoughtful who profit by her lessons, while 
" the simple pass on and are punished" ? 

It is not easy, indeed, to see how we are to 
improve by merely growing older, without a 
thoughtful endeavour to learn the lesson each 
passing occurrence may teach us, or to lay up 
in our minds, till they are needed, the princi- 
ples of conduct that may be acquired from a 
wise observance of what is passing around us, 
— from our own mistakes, from the example of 
others, or from the written or spoken experience 
of those who are older and wiser than ourselves. 
How otherwise shall we add "to virtue, know- 
ledge." How otherwise avoid becoming as crea- 



ON COMPLETENESS OF CHARACTER. 33 



tures moved by impulse alone, kind and amiable 
it may be, but, from want of thoughtfulness, in 
no way to be relied on as to action, or consulted 
with safety as to judgment. Does not a soul in 
this thoughtless state run the risk of the fault 
becoming habitual, and so resembling the hard 
and beaten wayside, where the good seed could 
find no root, and the fowls of the air quickly 
devoured it ? This serious thoughtfulness and 
consequent growth in grace must indeed be 
the work of the Holy Spirit in us ; but are 
we not commanded to be fellow-workers to- 
gether with Him ? While, then, we seek his 
aid and all-sufficient grace, let us remember 
that the effect of these will be to excite and 
enable us to make efforts, not to supersede 
them. 

A trifling, frivolous youth will grow into a 
trifling and frivolous age, even though the ob- 
jects of its frivolity may be changed ; and it is 
to be feared, that even when the heart has been 
renewed and the bent of the mind is toward 
eternal things, the hurtful effects of such a dis- 
position will continue to be felt and seen. Every 
thing that can enlarge and strengthen the mind 
should, therefore, be allowed a place in the stu- 
dies and pursuits of the young. Let them not 



34 ON COMPLETENESS OF CHARACTER. 



too Qnriously inquire of what use will it be to 
learn this, or to know that ; but try rather to 
keep what has been acquired till it is of use — 
remembering that the indirect benefit received 
is sometimes of as much value as any more pal- 
pable one can be. An uncultivated woman is 
apt, not merely to be narrow-minded and bigot- 
ed, but to become that most offensive of all cha- 
racters — a religious gossip. Surely if there 
were no other recommendation to a cultivated 
taste, this would be one, that it often prevents, 
and is offended by, those gossiping ways and 
words, to which even religious principle alone 
does not always put a stop. Labour, then, for 
completeness of character in every spiritual 
grace and in every mental gift. Let the latter 
help and enhance the former ; but let not your 
labour in either respect be self-seeking. Be 
not as Israel of old, who was condemned as 
an empty vine, for he bringeth forth fruit to 
himself; but bring all your gifts into God's 
.storehouse, and prove him, if he will not pour 
you out a blessing that there shall not be 
room to receive it. 

Another advantage to be gained by complete- 
ness of character, or even by striving after it, 
is a true admiration of, and value for the gifts 



ON COMPLETENESS OF CHARACTER. 35 



of others. The one-sided are not only preju- 
diced, but they really seem as unable to see, as 
they are unwilling to admit, the beauty and ex- 
emplary nature of those graces in others which 
are wanting in themselves. Those, however, 
who from experience have felt the difficulty of 
attainment, or those who, by reason of their 
having attained, are able to appreciate excel- 
lence, can, and do admire the good that is in 
others. If it is true "that no man can be 
really appreciated but by his equal or supe- 
rior;" and if it is also true that " there is 
nothing by which the mind is more impo- 
verished than by a habit of undue depre- 
ciation," it must follow as a matter of course, 
that a want of that hearty and sincere ap- 
preciation of the gifts and graces of others, 
must result from our own inferiority, and 
must often hinder our own spiritual and mental 
progress. 

Fulness of mind gives a readiness in re- 
sources which is most valuable, whether it be 
acquired for the benefit of others, or is used 
only for our own advantage. When the habit is 
once acquired of earnestly seeking to profit by 
every means, there can be few, if any, circum- 
stances in which we can be placed, where this 



36 ON COMPLETENESS OF CHARACTER. 



great work may not be carried on. To some, 
of a quiet and even tenor of life, this may seem 
a small benefit. But to many, a ready power of 
adaptation to circumstances is a most desirable 
habit, and one which is greatly increased and 
facilitated by that completeness of character 
we are inculcating, which, place it where you 
may, will ever find materials whereon to work, 
because it has within itself materials to work 
with. 

It will not, as we said before, and never can 
be the effect of this spirit of progress to make 
all alike, either in development or sphere of 
duty. The spirit must be the same, the aim 
the same ; but as our circumstances, disposi- 
tions and duties vary, so will our experience, 
our trials and temptations differ ; but while we 
are thus going on in the same path, let us not 
be forgetful of that brotherly kindness and 
charity, which will lead us not only to admire 
excellence of any kind in others, but to prac- 
tise forbearance, and to feel sorrow for, rather 
than bestow blame upon, these shortcomings. 
If the advantages and consequent progress 
of some are not our own, neither are the 
temptations which lead to the falling away 
of others. Let us endeavour to help forward 



ON EARNESTNESS. 37 



both. While we willingly give place to, and 
seek to imitate the one, let us consider our- 
selves, lest we also be tempted, and be careful 
to put no stumbling-block or cause of offence 
in our brother's way. 



" Covet earnestly the best gifts." — 1 Cor. xii. I. 

If asked what is the best or most hopeful 
mood of mind for carrying on the great work 
of life, I would say Earnestness. We all know 
what it is to be thoroughly in earnest about 
something, and we all know how much more 
easy of accomplishment that something is, when 
we are so disposed. For the concerns of the 
soul it is indeed of vital importance, being 
spoken of in Scripture under the termSj up- 
right, sincere, perfect. It is opposed to all 
formality, sloth, or trifling, — those besetting 
sins that too often eat out the life of our pray- 
ers and praises, our confessions of sin and pur- 
poses of amendment. Above all, let religion 
be a thorough work, and let earnestness cha- 
racterize all our efforts, remembering the apos- 

4 



38 ON EARNESTNESS. 



tie's exhortation, "It is good to be zealously 
affected always in a good thing." 

This earnestness is also opposed to doing 
things by fits and starts, as it were, which makes 
the religion of too many so fluctuating, so un- 
like the scriptural description of a shining light, 
that shineth more and more unto the perfect- 
day. But though of infinite importance to our 
progress in religion, indeed essential to our 
being religious at all, this earnestness will be 
found to be necessary in all we undertake, if 
we would avoid the habit of trifling, or the 
danger of being superficial. Whatever is w T orth 
doing at all is worth doing well, is a maxim 
which must be regarded in two ways : first, be 
sure that what you are about is worth doing, 
and then take care to do it earnestly, however 
slight it may be. The exquisite and perfect 
finish of the smallest work of God may seem 
to show us, that what he designs to do cannot 
be beneath the notice and imitation (feeble 
though it be) of his creatures. We have also 
an illustration of this principle in works of love. 
We would fain give of our best, whether in sub- 
stance or labour, to those we love ; we do every 
thing for them " as well as we can ;" and surely 
if we could achieve the attainment of doing all 



ON EARNESTNESS. 39 



to the glory of God, we would not willingly offer 
to him that which cost us nothing, but would 
rather be willing "up to our power, yea, and 
beyond our power," to make all we do perfect. 
There is a plan which may be generally found 
available in our endeavours to do earnestly 
whatever we are about, and it is to task our- 
selves, as it were, to fix times for what we have 
to do, as well as the things to be done i/f those 
times. Who has not felt the listlessness of 
taking up work that may be done at any time, 
or a book that one does not require to finish ? 
And who has not experienced the wandering 
of mind, so apt to follow, as we fancy we should 
be doing something else, or desire we had some- 
thing else to do ? There is so much of woman's 
work that comes under this head, so much done 
either to pass the time, or for the mere sake of 
doing something, that some such self-imposed 
law of doing things at a fixed period, and forc- 
ing one'sself occasionally to do what we are not 
inclined to, just because we have fixed to do it, 
is necessary to give a stimulus to the mind, and 
really makes our most trifling occupations more 
profitable than they can be in themselves, be- 
cause we are acquiring, by this means, a little 
steadiness of purpose and resolution. 



40 ON EARNESTNESS. 



How often is the excuse made to ourselves, 
"I am not in the humour to do so and so ;" or 
" I do not feel like it ;" or how often does the 
cowardly thought arise, " After all, I am not 
obliged to finish this/' till inclination being 
thus idly indulged, all habits of application and 
earnestness of purpose are lost. The counsel 
Dr. Chalmers gave to his students, to follow 
Dr. Johnson's advice as to composition, may 
be usefully observed in many minor matters. 
Dr. Johnson, in reply to a question put to him 
relative to the business of composition, whether, 
ere one begin, he should wait for the favourable 
moment, for the afflatus, which is deemed by 
many to constitute the whole peculiarity of ge- 
nius, said: "No, sir; he should sit down dog- 
gedly." And, be assured, that there is much 
of substantial, and much of important practical 
truth in it. Whether it be composition or any 
other exercise of scholarship, I would have you 
all to sit down doggedly ; for if once you bethink 
yourself of waiting for the mind to do it, the 
risk is that the mind to do it never may come. 
Substitute "waiting till we are in the humour" 
for the more high-sounding " afflatus," and then 
we, too, may practise the above advice, and 
find it useful. 



ON EARNESTNESS. 41 



Another use of this system of doing even 
self-imposed duties at fixed hours, is the pre- 
vention of much waste of time, odd half-hours 
being too often spent wondering what to do 
next; whereas a well-laid scheme would lead 
us from one employment to another without 
those idle intervals, and enable us to accom- 
plish far more than by desultory efforts. Per- 
haps our young friends may feel that this is too 
much like the school-life they have, perhaps, just 
left, and that it takes away the feeling of liberty 
of action which certainly gives a zest to our oc- 
cupations. But if we, while here on earth, are 
always to be labourers, why should we object 
to take the benefit of some of our school habits 
along with us ; and, besides, I speak of self- 
imposed rules, and this makes a great difference 
in our desire to keep them. 

" In truth, the prison into "which we doom 
Ourselves, no prison is." 

It is not meant that you are to tie yourself 
down so rigidly to set times of occupation, that 
nothing can be allowed to interrupt you. That 
can rarely be your duty, as many family and 
social calls and necessary interruptions must 
be allowed for, and, indeed, included in your 

4* 



42 ON EARNESTNESS. 



plan. You must, therefore, use it only as a 
guide to keep yourself from idle, trifling ways, 
never as an excuse for refusing to take your 
share in all the home and social intercourse, 
and assistance to others, that is your duty. I 
have heard of at least one tiresome individual, 
who was so tied to her own rules, that her 
family and her friends had little benefit from 
her society, unless it was sought for exactly at 
the time she had fixed for social intercourse. 
If you called and wished to spend an hour with 
her, she was obliged to leave you because the 
time for her daily exercise had come. Did you 
meet her out of doors, and wish her to prolong 
her walk because the day was fine, or because 
you had not met for a long time, no persuasion 
would induce her to stay one minute beyond 
the appointed hour for exercise. So rigid was 
she in thus sacrificing every thing to her own 
rules, that one of her friends used to declare 
that she was sure she fixed and kept to a cer- 
tain number of mouthfuls of bread, when she 
partook of any refreshment of the kind. No 
such rigid and selfish adherence to rules would 
I recommend to the young; for though I do say 
that you should keep up as much as possible 
your school habits of regular employment, and 



ON EARNESTNESS. 43 



strive to be daily adding something to what 
you already know and can perform, yet your 
system must now embrace others as well as 
yourselves, and your first duty is to study how 
best you may fill the station in which God has 
placed you. This will not prevent your having 
abundant leisure for your own pursuits ; for it 
may be observed that it is not only the best 
humoured, but the most industrious member of 
a family, that has time to attend to all the 
rest, and to whom, indeed, all the rest somehow 
get a habit of appealing for help. The idle 
have no time to spare. Be sure then in any 
scheme of steady occupation you lay down, to 
include in it largely the claims others have 
upon you, not merely the sick and poor, but 
your own family — not merely your parents, 
but your brothers and sisters. It is but too 
common to see in large families the daughters 
devoted to nothing but themselves. It matters 
little whether it be to their own gratification in 
rational pursuits, or to their own amusement; 
for if, in either case, the welfare, the comfort, 
or even the enjoyment of others of the family 
is unheeded, can that young person feel that 
she is living to the glory of God, or doing her 
duty to those among whom he has placed her, 



44 ON EARNESTNESS. 



that she might be " the helper of their joy," as 
well as the useful friend ? Oh ! what a bound- 
less import has this one word " usefulness/ ' 
Its effect may reach through all eternity ; and 
surely, did we consider its extent, and realize 
that, by one means or another, the power of 
usefulness is a talent given to every one of us, 
we should tremble under the responsibility, and 
make it a matter of earnest prayer and con- 
stant effort to see where and how we can best 
employ it, and should grudge no time or labour 
that may increase so great a gift. The power 
of usefulness, like all God's gifts, increases by 
exercise. Let us not despise the humblest and 
most mechanical offices in which we may help 
others, while we remember that there is no 
mental acquirement so high, no enlargement 
of mind so extensive, but that we shall find it, 
if we seek to do so, a means of greater useful- 
ness. Let all your acquirements and efforts 
tend mainly to this great end of making you 
more useful in your day and generation, whether 
it be by advice, assistance, or example; and 
remember, that as you cannot be very useful 
unless you are loved, it is a duty to adorn your 
usefulness with all the graces of the Spirit, 
" love, joy, peace," &c. Take care, however, 



ON EARNESTNESS. 45 



not to forget, that while these higher exercises 
of the power of usefulness are the most im- 
portant, the more quietly and unobtrusively 
you exercise them the better; and remember 
to make use of your humbler powers in the 
same way. Be daily doing something for 
others — at home especially. Let your desire 
to be useful show itself in the kindly conside- 
ration of their smallest concerns ; but be your- 
self, as far as possible, content thus to serve 
others, without parade or unnecessary bustle. 



46 ON DILIGENCE. 



©It Jttijjfctttt. 

" Diligent in business, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord." 

Earnestness in all we do has been alluded 
to as a most desirable state of mind, and from 
it would follow, as the natural result, diligence 
in doing. As there is an acknowledged differ- 
ence, however, between always saying some- 
thing and always having something to say, so 
is there between always doing something and 
always having something to do. The constant 
frittering away of time, the useless industry, 
the " lethargic assiduity," of many who are yet 
always doing something, can hardly be called 
diligence. Yet, as they are never idle, one 
cannot help wishing that such busy idlers had 
actually something to do. 

From the frequent commendations of dili- 
gence in the Scriptures, and the many pro- 
mises attached to it, we may gather, that the 
exercise of this quality extends to the higher 
concerns of the soul, no less than to the daily 
business of life. Much instruction may be 



ON DILIGENCE. 47 



gained from many verses of the Proverbs on 
this subject, for though many of them refer in 
the first place to worldly diligence, there is a 
deeper spiritual meaning in them. " The soul 
of the sluggard desireth, and hath nothing ; 
but the soul of the diligent shall be made fat." 
Prov. xiii. 4. This is certainly one of those, 
and from the contrast drawn in it and others, 
between the slothful and the diligent soul, we 
should take warning as well as encouragement, 
and may often be thus self-convicted of want 
of diligence. 

How apt are we to be satisfied with good 
desires — with wishing well ! We seem to have 
almost an idea that this is enough ; that the 
graces of the Spirit will flourish under this as 
under culture ; and while thus desiring, how 
apt are we to forget that, all the time, we 
"have nothing." Oh, these lazy wishes ! How 
they do rob us of the comfort, and strength, 
and growth in grace, that are here promised to 
the diligent soul ! It has been said, " Let the 
same earnestness and solicitude, the same dili- 
gence and perseverance, with which some fa- 
vourite worldly object is pursued, appear in 
our religious conduct and in our devotion, and 
we shall soon find, 'that the effectual, fervent 



48 ON DILIGENCE. 



prayer of a righteous man availeth much.' ' 
Diligence in studying the word of God, in 
prayer, and in attending on the ordinances of 
religion, cannot be profitable, if not done with 
that earnestness of spirit which alone makes 
the difference between real diligence and heart- 
less formality. The following counsel from 
the pen of Archbishop Leighton is so beauti- 
fully explanatory of what diligence in the con- 
cerns of our souls implies, that I cannot do 
better than extract it : — 

" For the entertaining and strengthening of 
spiritual life, which is the great business of all 
that have it : 

" 1st. Beware of omitting or interrupting 
those spiritual means that do provide it and 
nourish it. Little neglects of that kind will 
draw on greater, and great neglects will make 
great abatements of vigour and liveliness. 

" 2d. Take heed of using holy things 
coldly and without affection ; that will make 
them fruitless, and our life will not be advan- 
taged by them unless they are used in a lively 
way. 

" 3d. Be active in all good within thy reach. 
As this is a sign of the spiritual life, so it is a 
helper and a friend to it. But wouldest thou 



ON DILIGENCE. 49 



grow upward in this life ? Have much recourse 
to Jesus Christ thy head. Wouldest thou know 
more of God ? He it is that reveals the Father, 
and reveals him as his Father, and in him 
thy Father." 

There is another branch of this spiritual 
diligence that I would urge upon the young, 
and for that also I would refer to a. text in 
Proverbs : " The slothful man roasteth not that 
which he took in hunting : but the substance 
of a diligent man is precious." If asked what 
is implied by the common term, " a diligent 
use of the means of grace," would not the 
answer be : a regular attendance at the house 
of God is one of the chief of these means, — 
reading the Scriptures and religious works is 
another. But it is not to the means them- 
selves, but to the diligent use of them, that I 
am now alluding ; and is it not the case, that 
in spiritual things we too often resemble the 
slothful man who roasted not that which he 
took ? What else are we doing, when we hear 
and read, nay, are even keen and earnest 
about these means of grace, and yet apply 
them not to our own souls, or let what has 
most impressed us at the time soon slip out 
from our remembrance ? It is no great proof 



50 ON DILIGENCE. 



of diligence, to love to hear the truth set forth 
in glowing and earnest terms, and to be roused 
and excited by thus hearing for a time. But, 
alas ! what becomes of all we hear or read — 
delightful though it be ? Even as the excite- 
ment of the chase is unto the slothful man ! 
Do we not too often derive as little benefit 
from it, as he did from that which, w T hen found, 
was useless from the want of a continuous 
course of diligence ? Let any one look back 
a year, and sum up all the opportunities of 
good, the Sabbath-days, the sermons, the books 
read, the trials and mercies, in short, all the 
means of grace he has enjoyed, both spiritual 
and providential ; let him compare with these 
the actual amount of benefit derived, and will 
not the result be a most humbling one ? 

To those who are earnestly striving thus to 
"give all diligence" to those higher and more 
important matters, I would say, carry the same 
spirit into all you have to do. Beware of a 
sauntering, listless way of setting about any 
work ; looking more as if you had nothing else 
to do, and, therefore, were only doing that 
meantime, than if you were really at work. 
Get done with whatever you are about. The 
circumstances were very peculiar that justified 



ON DILIGENCE. 51 



Penelope in weaving her endless web ; and 
there is nothing more opposed to diligence, 
than the system of dawdling for ever over some 
one thing that might have been completed long 
ago. Remember that activity is part of dili- 
gence. 

Another great recommendation of this virtue 
is, that it really seems to add time to those 
who practise it. Burke says, " Thus much is in 
favour of activity and occupation, that the 
more one has to do, the more one is capable 
of doing, even beyond our direct task." Do 
not, however, mistake bustle for active dili- 
gence, nor undertake more than you can do 
without having to hurry over your work. In 
such a case you not only run the risk of doing 
every thing in an unsatisfactory manner, so 
that it has to be done again, but you yourself 
suffer from the uneasy feeling of having left 
undone much that you had undertaken. Work 
undertaken, but not overtaken, is oftentimes a 
heavy burden to a conscientious person, who 
perhaps has erred in overrating his powers of 
action ; and from thus being, as it were, obliged 
to hurry and get into a bustle, his diligence, 
praiseworthy though it be, fails to accomplish 
all that he desires. Quiet diligence does the 



52 ON DILIGENCE. 



most work. We certainly do sometimes meet 
with people who never seem to be doing any- 
thing — who have leisure to attend to many- 
things, and to take an interest in what is going 
on around them — and who yet contrive to get 
through a great amount of labour. 

Both earnestness of spirit and diligence in 
action, in worldly matters, need a guard, lest 
they induce the habit of being so engrossed by 
the one thing uppermost at the time, that no 
interest is felt in any other. All other matters 
must yield to that one object ; and it is well if 
the more serious consequence of neglect of other 
duties does not follow, as well as the lesser evil 
of being considered a bore in society, or an un- 
sympathetic friend in private. In all schemes 
for the diligent use of time, there should be a 
large margin allowed for family and social de- 
mands upon us. That time ought not to be 
considered as lost that has been occupied in 
thus promoting the happiness, by entering into 
and sympathizing with, the daily joys and sor- 
rows of those among whom we dwell. The pre- 
sence of young people in a house is generally 
considered to add to its cheerfulness, as well as 
to its activity. Let my young friends consider 
it as a duty to be thus cheerful, and to make 



ON DILIGENCE. 53 



themselves generally useful ; and without yield- 
ing, on the one hand, to that mistaken diligence 
which is, in reality, only selfish devotion to the 
whim of the moment, avoid, on the other, all 
listless idleness or sluggish inactivity. 

There are many hours in every one's life 
during which the claims of social intercourse 
occupy our time ; but now-a-days there is not 
the same stiffness and formality shown in visit- 
ing that there was ; and it is seldom necessary, 
for females especially, to sit with the hands con- 
tinually idle when thus engaged. Needle- 
work, and all kinds of ornamental or fancy 
work, may be then carried on ; and it is won- 
derful how much may be done by diligent 
hands in those odd moments of time. Never 
to be without a piece of work to be taken up 
while chatting, is a good rule for those who 
have much time to spend in this way. In spite 
of what I have elsewhere said of the superior im- 
portance of intellectual pursuits to a constant 
employment of ther hands alone, I do think that 
diligence with the needle is a most important 
duty for every female, if it did nothing else 
but enable her to fill up even the social hours 
with pleasant and profitable occupation. 

To those who are diligent, there are few losses 

5* 



54 ON DILIGENCE. 



more grudged than that of their time, as it 
is only by method and regularity that they can 
get much done. Any interruption to this 
method often throws back several occupations 
which were waiting for their turn to be taken 
up ; and one is apt to feel fretted at being thus 
interrupted, and of having, in consequence, 
still to look forward to work unfulfilled, and to 
burden to-morrow with the additional duties of 
to-day. 

If this interruption, however, is unavoidable, 
and not your own fault, beware of losing your 
temper as well as your time. Endeavour cheer- 
fully to take up what has been thus, as it were, 
brought to you, as you will generally find that 
your chosen work does not suffer in the end. 
It would be well, too, on these occasions, to 
take a lesson for our own conduct toward 
others, especially in the matter of punctuality 
as to time. I believe as much time is daily 
lost by want of punctuality as is stolen by that 
proverbial thief — procrastination. If you feel 
chafed, and with reason, at being kept waiting 
after an appointed hour till you have to neg- 
lect some other call of duty, resolve that you 
will never so waste the time of another, or of 
many others; for it is seldom, indeed, that 



ON DILIGENCE. 55 



only one is a sufferer by having to wait for an 
habitual loiterer. Truly, time is one of the 
substances of a diligent man, which is precious. 
In a certain degree, more can be accom- 
plished by a diligent spirit who has, according 
to the common expression, " many irons in the 
fire," than when there is one absorbing object 
of pursuit. In general, the duties of women 
are of a miscellaneous nature, and it is seldom 
her calling to be devoted to one pursuit ; but 
though there may be, and perhaps ought always 
to be, some work in which a paramount interest 
is taken, (besides the one great duty of seeking 
the glory of God, our own salvation, and that 
of others,) this need not interfere with a dili- 
gent employment of the rest of our time. For 
this purpose a variety of occupations is desira- 
ble ; and she who can do so many things, is 
most likely to be the one who does the most. 
It is true that, with this facility of turning 
our thoughts and our hands from one thing 
to another, there is frequently combined the 
bad habit of beginning but never finishing — of 
taking up a pursuit only when fancy impels, and 
deserting it when some other novelty attracts 
us. This habit, so subversive of all true dili- 
gence, cannot be unknown to any one who 



56 ON DILIGENCE. 



yields to it. Let her just look into her work- 
table, and other repositories, and see how many 
unfinished things are there — stockings half 
knit, trimmings half worked, articles of cloth- 
ing half made, sketches unfinished, music begun 
to be copied, but either words or notes want- 
ing — and then let conscience say whether these 
are the results of a diligent hand. What is 
worth beginning is worth finishing, or it must 
be worthless indeed. At all events, it is use- 
less in an unfinished state, and your labour 
and your time have been alike wasted. This 
habit, however, is so frequent, that I would re- 
commend young people to have periodical times 
of reckoning with themselves., — say once a 
week or once a month — seek out all unfinished 
deeds, and allow yourselves no new occupations 
till these are completed, and deal resolutely 
with yourselves in this matter. 



ON INFLUENCE. 57 



©11 $Jtfltt*tt«. 

" Let us therefore follow after things where- 
with one may edify another." — Rom. xiv. 19. 

There is no subject, perhaps, upon which 
the young think less, nor one on which, from 
its importance, they ought to think more, than 
that of influence. Direct, or indirect, we all 
exercise it — we are all under it, and w r hether 
consciously or unconsciously, w r e are ever 
bearing about with us, or are open to, influ- 
ences manifold and mighty for good or evil. 

The general idea many entertain of influence 
is, that it is the power of persuading another. 
Active influence is all they think of. They 
see not, think not, perhaps believe not, in the 
mighty power of unconscious influence. If we 
were fully aware how much we ourselves are 
influenced by the unconscious power exercised 
over us by others, we surely would feel it a 
duty to watch ourselves that at least we do not 
injure others. We do not like, it may be, to 
admit that we are thus swayed, thus formed by 
any thing of which we are unconscious. We 



58 ON INFLUENCE, 



would rather admit, that where we have not 
acted from our own sense of right and wrong, 
we were influenced by actual advice or instruc- 
tion openly received from others. But the 
fact is undoubted, that there is such a power 
as unconscious influence exercised and received 
by us. Few young people think of it ; very 
few are able to trace its effects when they do 
think of it ; yet it should be made a subject of 
deep and solemn thought by all ; for since ca- 
pability of giving and receiving impressions is 
one of the conditions God has imposed on us, 
will he not demand an account of the use we 
have made of it? 

No one doubts that we are thus accountable 
for the direct influence we exercise on others ; 
yet too many try to shuffle off that responsi- 
bility by alleging that "they have no influ- 
ence" — they are too young, or too insignificant, 
or too ignorant, to possess such a thing. It is 
thus they sometimes succeed in blinding them- 
selves to the guilt they are contracting, by in- 
dolently and from self-indulgent motives refus- 
ing to use one of the powers given us for good. 
Advice and entreaty are means of influence, no 
doubt, though it is not to them I principally 
refer ; but it were well if young people con- 



ON INFLUENCE. 59 



sidered more seriously their mutual responsi- 
bility in this respect. 

Those who have felt the supreme importance 
of eternal things — who have been led by the 
Saviour into the narrow way that leadeth unto 
life, should surely do what they can to per- 
suade others to go along with them. Is there 
no younger sister or friend, with whom you 
can thus plead ? None of your own age who 
will be more likely to listen to you than to 
older advisers ? It has been said, and truly 
said, " It seldom happens that we are very 
strongly influenced by those much older than 
ourselves. It is the senior of from two to ten 
years that most seduces and enthralls us. He 
has the same pursuits, views, objects, pleasures, 
but more art and experience in them all." 

The influence here alluded to seems to be 
merely worldly in its objects, but I quote the 
passage to prevent the objection being made, 
that young people can do little in the way of 
swaying their companions, for if their influence 
be thus powerful for evil, may it not be often 
so for good ? At all events, it is worth trying, 
conscious, as all must be, that it is too often 
neglected more from apathy, indifference to the 
souls of others, and a want in ourselves of 



60 ON INFLUENCE. 



earnest, lively faith in the great truths we pro- 
fess to be guided by, than from having no one 
who may be induced, by our advice, to enter 
upon the ways of pleasantness and the paths 
of peace. 

" No man was ever yet convinced of any 
momentous truth without feeling in himself the 
power, as well as the desire, of communicating 
it." And, surely, those truths which concern 
the salvation of our immortal souls are " mo- 
mentous ;" and, if thus believed, will we not 
assiduously seek to impart them to others ? 
Let your manner be gentle — avoid every ap- 
pearance of harsh dictation, or of self-suffi- 
cient superiority — but show that you are in 
earnest by abstaining carefully from the 
slightest levity on sacred subjects, (a fault 
into which not a few fall,) and, in general, 
try entreaty rather than advice. The former 
is not so easily evaded, and more rarely gives 
offence. 

After all, it is chiefly by example that we 
influence others ; for I am not talking at pre- 
sent of instruction, but of that unconscious 
good or evil we give and receive from all that 
passes around us, especially from the actings 
of others. It may seem that to be always on 



ON INFLUENCE. 61 



the watch to exercise this power for good, and 
to abstain from its exercise for evil, would pro- 
duce a constraint of manner, a bondage, in 
fact, too heavy to be borne; and generate, like- 
wise, a perpetual self-inspection which is any 
thing but favourable to our mental or spiritual 
health. This is, undoubtedly, best promoted by 
looking out of ourselves to the cross of Christ, 
to his example and his revealed will, and 
ever remembering that, while " duties are ours, 
events are God's." The fact, however, that 
the influence of example is, in general, one 
which we exercise unconsciously, may prevent 
this fear, though it should also operate as an 
additional reason for careful consistency of con- 
duct. 

We are not to do good merely that others 
may be led to follow our example; neither are 
we to forget that, when we are perhaps least 
aware of it, our deeds and words may be help- 
ing or hindering an immortal soul in the way 
to life everlasting. The responsibility of this 
influence we cannot lay down, and are unable 
to shun. It attends our actions like their 
shadow, but we seldom see or know whom it 
has affected, or whether it has done so for 
weal or woe. Oh ! let us, then, be careful how 



62 ON INFLUENCE. 



we walk ; for light and transient as the impres- 
sions we make may seem, we know not which 
of them may remain to eternity. There are 
often waverers, those who may have begun to 
think, but whose tendency toward what is 
right is so uncertain, that a look or a word 
may be sometimes enough to make them falter 
on their way, but who would take courage and 
go on if they met with a steadfast character, 
whose example would encourage and fortify 
them. If these undecided ones see you, who 
profess to be guided by the highest motives, 
acting inconsistently with that profession- — tri 
fling your time — unwatchful of your words- 
eager after this world's wealth or pleasure — 
careless of the souls of others, and selfish or 
exacting — will they not hold themselves ab- 
solved from being much in earnest about what 
you thus seem to show you do not regard as of 
any great importance ? 

Do not say as an excuse that you make no 
profession, and that therefore you are not an- 
swerable for the expectations others may form 
of you. If it be indeed the case that you make 
no profession, are you not greatly to blame for 
not doing so ? Are you not thereby influenc- 
ing others to be ashamed of confessing that 



ON INFLUENCE. 63 



they are the followers of Christ ? And are 
yon not in danger of incurring the awful 
doom denounced by him against those who 
shall be ashamed of him and of his words ? 
The phrase "making a profession" is too often 
misapplied to those who make a talkative or 
outward profession, and content themselves 
with mere lip-service ; but the dread of making 
a profession often arises from cowardice. The 
fear of ridicule is as potent as the dread of dis- 
honouring the holy cause — which is often the 
ostensible reason given for silence — and the 
evil rests not upon our own souls alone, but 
upon those around us, who may become fatally 
infected by our faint-heartedness. On the 
contrary, an honest avowal of our sentiments — 
a quiet but decided and consistent profession 
— does embolden and encourage, does influence 
and sway, those who are just beginning the 
Christian life ; while it may not seldom be the 
means of leading such as are careless on the 
subject, to consider their ways. 

You must expect, it is true, to meet with 
ridicule and opposition. But remember, when 
tempted to be silent when you should speak — 
or to comply when you should stand firm — 
that you know not what " little one that be- 



64 ON INFLUENCE. 



lieveth" on Christ you may be "offending," or 
what timid and doubting soul you may be en- 
couraging and strengthening by the influence 
of your example. 

If we really felt it to be a fact, and a serious 
one, that we thus know not, and probably never 
will know, all the consequences for good or evil 
of our own actions, we would less frequently 
indulge ourselves in what is at best doubtful, 
under the plea of "just this once." That once 
may be the turning period in another's history 
who may see or know of us only "this once," 
and may never lose the impression then made. 
He may know nothing of our habitual course 
of life ; and however unfair we may regard it 
to be judged of by a single deed, or condemned 
for unknown results, yet as the influence thus 
exercised for evil would have been avoided had 
we not done what our conscience disapproved 
of that "once," are we not in some measure 
responsible for such unfaithfulness ? 

While I would thus seek to impress the young 
with a sense of responsibility as to the influence 
they cannot help exerting over others, as well 
as in regard to more direct influence with re- 
spect to the things that concern their eternal 
peace, I would also wish them to remember 



ON INFLUENCE. 65 



that this silent effect follows them equally in 
all their every-day duties. Who has not felt 
the enlivening, the brightening influence of a 
day's contact with a cjieerful mind ? Our cares 
seem less, our hopes brighter, our efforts more 
vigorous, our thoughts less desponding, than 
before ; and yet, though we may have met with 
sympathy, we have not received either advice 
or assistance to account for such a change. It 
is chiefly, if not entirely, the effect upon us of 
another's cheerful, hopeful heart. 

Who has not left the sick-room of some poor, 
patient, yet contented sufferer, humbled at the 
thought of how often we have fretted over tri- 
fles, mourned over slight ailments, or grumbled 
at very small inconveniences ? Ah ! let not 
thus even the sick and suffering say that they 
are laid aside from usefulness. They know not 
how often their Christian cheerfulness, their 
patient endurance, has humbled and yet en- 
couraged the hearts of those who witnessed 
them. Their influence is a talent still left 
them to be used for God's glory. The reverse 
of all this takes place when we are thrown 
much into contact with gloomy, easily-depress- 
ed, or discontented persons. They mean no 
evil; but besides their own discomfort, they 



66 ON INFLUENCE. 



would do well to remember that they may un- 
consciously be damping the spirit and depress- 
ing the hearts of others, by yielding too much 
to these moods of mind. " A merry heart," 
says Solomon, " doeth good like a medicine ;" 
and as the young in general possess this as a 
prerogative of their years, let them use it to 
cheer the care-worn and disconsolate hearts of 
those whose burdens are heavier than their own. 
Besides, being careful what influence we 
exert, we must also guard against that which we 
ourselves receive, and for this purpose some 
study and knowledge of ourselves are requisite. 
There are some who are most apt to be influ- 
enced by companions — others by the books 
they read — many by the incidents daily occur- 
ring around them, — and as each class of causes 
may be productive of good or evil, we should 
watch well their effects upon ourselves. It is 
often scarcely possible for us to withdraw our- 
selves from society or circumstances, which yet 
we feel to be injurious to us ; but if we are in 
the path of duty, in the sphere where God has 
placed us, we need "fear no evil." A double 
portion of grace to help will be necessary, but 
it will assuredly be given, if earnestly sought 
for ; and a more vigilant watch over our own 



ON INFLUENCE. 67 



hearts will be required when we feel conscious 
that there is an enemy within but too ready to 
open to the insidious influences from without. 
Let us beware, however, of placing ourselves 
in situations of temptation, and then hoping to 
be preserved from danger, for there is no pro- 
mise to those who thus " tempt the Lord." If 
we find that certain habits, certain society, cer- 
tain books, exercise an evil influence over us, 
we ought certainly to lay them aside, even if 
by so doing we have to deny ourselves what is 
pleasant, and what to others may be harmless. 
Have our young friends never felt that some 
books, some circumstances, have made impres- 
sions on their minds that they cannot shake off, 
and that are never effaced ? These impressions 
are influencing them, whether they think so or 
not. Unconsciously, it may be, they are there- 
by either roused to more activity, or betrayed 
into more thoughtlessness ; and are thus led 
either to seek a nearer walk with God, or (fear- 
ful alternative !) are hardened into cold indif- 
ference ; and even when the causes have been 
forgotten, they may have left effects on their 
characters that will benefit or injure them for 
ever. " Take heed," then, "how ye hear." 
Take heed also what you read ; and be not only 



68 ON INFLUENCE. 



earnest and diligent in seeking to secure good 
for your souls from whomsoever you come in 
contact with, but faithful in avoiding, when pos- 
sible, all that may harm them. 

At the risk of being thought to descend to 
too trifling details, I must just give a hint on 
the subject of resisting the influences of petty 
annoyances, which are of frequent occurrence, 
and sometimes unavoidable. Hence it would be 
well to exercise a little self-control regarding 
their effects. 

It has been well said, " There are two classes 
of things we should never fret about — what we 
can help, and what we cannot." It is not the 
aged person or the invalid merely who has felt 
depressed and irritated by such things as a con- 
tinuance of bad weather, an east wind, a cold 
morning, or, most provoking of all, a bad fire. 
Now, we cannot help the first-named evils. Our 
climate is pretty sure to try us with them very 
frequently, and it were certainly wise to watch 
against their inward as well as their outward 
effects. If our cheerfulness and good humour, 
our pursuits and pleasures, are thus left at the 
mercy of an uncertain atmosphere, alas for the 
boasted happiness of our hearths and homes ! 

Plenty to do, and a diligent spirit with which 



ON INFLUENCE. 69 



to do it, are the great preventatives of these idle 
repinings. We should learn the happy art of 
" setting traps to catch sunbeams," by reso- 
lutely looking at our many comforts and bless- 
ings, instead of fretting over discomforts that 
cannot be remedied, and thereby infecting 
others with our own discontent, or at least 
making them almost as uncomfortable as our- 
selves. It is childish, to say the least of it, 
thus to be influenced by comparative trifles, 
though, of course, where it is in our power, we 
ought to surround ourselves and others with 
cheering influences. Let us, therefore, keep 
not only bright fires burning on our hearths, 
but bright hearts and kind words to make these 
firesides happy. 



70 ON WANDERING THOUGHTS. 



®n Mattering ®I]M#p, 

" I hate vain thoughts: but thy law do I love." — Psalm 
cxix. 113. 

"When I detect myself in unprofitable revery, let me 
make an instant transition from dreaming to doing." — 
Dr. Chalmers. 

We are too much in the habit of considering 
the wandering of our thoughts as an unavoidable 
and allowable infirmity. Though we regret our 
inability to control them, we seldom resolutely 
endeavour to do so, but leave the chance of our 
thoughts following any subject to depend on 
their interest in it for the time — much as fool- 
ish parents trust to the obedience of spoiled 
children, i. e. when they like to do a thing. 
It has been said, that by regular and proper 
discipline, our thoughts may be brought into 
such obedience that they will not only fix them- 
selves when required on any given subject, but 
do so at regular periods of the day. How this 
is to be done is not so easily determined ; but 
surely we must all feel that it is desirable. 
There are times when every one must have 
felt this mischievous habit most distressingly, 



ON WANDERING THOUGHTS. 71 



namely, in reading the Scriptures and in prayer. 
At such periods how earnestly do we wish for a 
cure for what we then consider to be sinful and 
irreverent ! Surely, then do we feel that in- 
dulgence in this habit of mind brings its own 
punishment. Besides the sense of sin left on 
the conscience, what practical good can we get 
from either reading or prayer, when the mind 
is thus wandering, so as to leave no possibility 
of a deep or serious impression being made? 
This should be one great argument in favour 
of a constant and resolute strife against this 
state of mind, for the benefit of such self- 
government will not be confined to secular 
pursuits, but must extend to our most serious 
studies and exercises. 

What I believe is generally meant by wan- 
dering thoughts is really a difficulty, almost 
amounting to an impossibility, of controlling the 
thoughts at all. The mind seems like a path- 
way crowded with passing travellers ; and if 
asked what we are thinking of, we justly an- 
swer "nothing" — no impression is made, no 
connection between the ideas exists, and, in 
fact, we are not thinking, although wandering 
thoughts may seem of their own accord to 
come and go. No direct mental effort appears 



72 ON WANDERING THOUGHTS. 



to do any good ; indeed, it is not till we at- 
tempt to fix our attention on a book or subject 
that we become aware of our state of mind. 
As this is the most common, so it is the worst 
form of wandering thoughts, and the one most 
difficult of cure. Much may be done by re- 
sistance, but unfortunately this mental condi- 
tion brings along with it a desire of indulgence 
and an indolent sense of amusement that too 
often plead for its continuance, ^e lay down 
the book, or cast aside the subject demanding 
thought, because our minds desire to wander, 
and thus, to many, this state becomes habitual. 
To those who are endeavouring to obtain some 
control over their minds, I would say, never 
willlingly indulge this state of wandering 
thoughts. It is quite as idle an amusement as 
sitting at a window watching the passers by. 
But do not lay aside the book, or resign the 
occupation, in hopes that your mind will be 
steadier at some other time. Do not betake 
yourself to some mechanical employment, 
merely that you may let your thoughts wander 
at their own free will. 

The great cure for this useless frame is, 
no doubt, to have the mind much occupied with 
solid and useful knowledge and reflection. 



ON WANDERING THOUGHTS. 73 



This not only drives away vain thoughts by 
pre-occupation, but strengthens and disciplines 
the mind against this wandering habit. Even 
lesser helps may be found useful — such as fix- 
ing the attention for the time by writing, or 
learning by heart, or, where practicable, by 
reading aloud. If while reading the Bible, or 
in prayer, we thus find our minds are, like the 
fool's eyes, "in the ends of the earth," some 
assistance is often obtained by thus using the 
voice ; and learning a few verses by heart, or 
seeking out and writing down parallel passages 
of Scripture, frequently arrests and fixes the 
thoughts, and helps to produce and deepen se- 
rious impressions. After such discipline the 
mind is more easily kept steady. 

A second description of wandering thoughts 
may arise from pre-occupation of mind, and 
this we sometimes feel to be inevitable. There 
are, no doubt, times or events which properly 
exercise such an important influence over us, 
that no other thought seems admissible ; but,, 
at present, I am not alluding to that condition 
of being during which such frequent and care- 
ful thought is a duty. I am referring, rather,, 
to that state generally known as absence of 
mind. Any one, who watches his own men- 



74 ON WANDERING THOUGHTS. 



tal feelings, must be aware that this frequently 
arises from mere want of control, and not alto- 
gether from the engrossing nature of any ruling 
subject of thought. Even when it does so, 
however, it were well could we learn to turn 
our minds at will to other subjects. It is often 
necessary and desirable to be able to do so, 
both on our own account and that of others. 

When we find one subject is apt thus to en- 
gross the mind and exclude every other, I think 
it may be advisable to treat this kind of wan- 
dering thought differently from the former. 
Yield to it sometimes, set yourself to think about 
it. If it is painful, look at it resolutely, and 
see if it can be amended ; if pleasant, indulge 
what is gladsome and grateful ; if perplexing, 
ponder <over it, and commit it, by earnest prayer, 
to Him w^ho alone know^eth the end from the 
beginning, and leave it there, whatever it be that 
thus engrosses you. But consider, also, whether 
you have done all you ought, and let thought 
lead to action. While thus thinking, endeavour 
always to see what spiritual benefit you may 
derive from the circumstances under which you 
are placed, and how you may act so as to glo- 
rify God. Having thus, at proper times, given 
your mind leave of absence, as it were, reso- 



ON WANDERING THOUGHTS. 75 



lutely set yourself to some employment that 
will engage the thoughts as well as the hands, 
and refuse admittance into your mind of the 
predominant feeling, as a forbidden guest for 
the time. Unseasonable thoughts, though good 
in themselves, are still wandering thoughts, 
and so must be refused admittance. 

There is a third description of wandering 
thoughts which are very fascinating, and which, 
likewise, have their times when it may be law- 
ful to indulge them. I allude to the sugges- 
tions, associations, analogies, or memoirs, oc- 
curring to our mind while reading some work 
of interest or genius, or while revisiting, after 
long absence, some once well-known spot. It 
is delightful to follow out a train of thought 
thus awakened, or to linger over some old asso- 
ciation till the present fades from our view, and 
we live again among those who are gone, and 
seem to see once more the scenes we loved so 
well of old. We should, indeed, beware of 
strengthening a habit of idle revery, however 
fascinating; but, surely, there are times when 
this may be indulged in, and when so doing 
cannot be considered unprofitable either to the 
head or heart. I do not, however, include 
building castles in the air among my permitted 



76 ON WANDERING THOUGHTS. 



reveries. The future may be given to us, but 
the past is still, in one sense, our own ; and 
much that is profitable, as well as pleasing, 
much that is encouraging, as well as sad or 
soothing, may be found there when sought in a 
proper spirit. It never can be useless for a 
Christian thus to look back, and consider all 
the way in which Grod has led him. 

But I must not forget that I am writing for 
the young, to whom looking back can seldom be 
the sad luxury it is to those of mature years ; 
so I will only advert, further, to the class of 
suggested thoughts, which ought sometimes to 
be followed out. If they occur during the time 
devoted to steady reading, or while actually 
studying a subject, it were better to take a 
note of them to be thought* out afterward, 
than to allow them to lead away the mind at 
the time. You will never travel far along a 
road if you run into every opening glade you 
pass, merely to see where it may end. 

There is no remedy more effectual for the 
cure of the first-named class of wandering 
thoughts, than to have the mind well filled 
with useful knowledge, with something, in short, 
to think about which is not vain or trifling. 
And, surely, our reflective faculties were given 



ON WANDERING THOUGHTS. 77 



to us for a nobler use than to run to waste and 
bring forth weeds, which weaken their produc- 
tive powers and choke the growth of all serious, 
earnest thought. 

Let us remember, then, that it is mentally 
as well as morally true, that " as a man thinketh 
in his heart, so is he." 



7* 



78 MINOR MORALS. 



" Let all things be done decently, and in order."— 
1 Cor. xiv. 40. 

" Decision and propriety in the smaller movements of 
life is a great constituent to comfort." — Dr. Chalmers. 

There are many points of duty, coming up 
in our daily intercourse with others, that involve 
principles of social duty by no means unimpor- 
tant, and yet too apt to be overlooked. 

In our social visits to friends,, how many 
little offices of kindness can be performed which 
will take nothing from the pleasure we give 
or receive, and yet will greatly ease whatever 
trouble our presence may occasion ? The pro- 
per care of the room we occupy — the avoidance 
of unnecessary calls on others to serve us — the 
making the best of any little crosses or annoy- 
ances — and the rendering of little services 
wherever they will be useful and acceptable — 
are among the things to which I refer. 

In visiting, the habits and tastes of the fa- 
mily should be as much studied by the guest, 
as the amusement and pleasure of the guest 



MINOR MORALS. 79 



are studied by the host. Much has been writ- 
ten on the subject of hospitality, but a good 
deal might be said on the proper enjoyment of 
it. Every one knows what a pleasure it is to 
have a visit from one who seems to fall natu- 
rally into the ways of the house — whose cheer- 
ful, accommodating temper makes every thing 
done to please her seem the very thing she 
likes best — who is not too eager for excitement 
or amusement, can bear to be disappointed in 
prospective plans, and, capable of finding occu- 
pation for herself, never hangs heavy on your 
hands. My young friends, therefore, should, 
while visiting, seek to be as much as they can 
the givers of pleasure to those with whom they 
sojourn, as well as the recipients of it. 

There is yet another source of small annoy- 
ances from young guests which I desire to point 
out, to induce them to avoid it; for, like the 
others I have mentioned, few will tell them to 
their faces of these petty faults, and yet they will 
blame them behind their backs. I allude to un- 
tidy habits and ways of doing things. Look at 
a room where a young lady of this slatternly 
kind has been at work, the sofa cover rumpled, 
the tidies crushed, her work littering one cor- 
ner, an open book on the mantelpiece, the music 



80 MINOR MORALS. 



scattered over the piano, her writing or drawing 
materials left on the table in confusion, and 
frequently her bonnet and gloves lying where 
they had been tossed down when she came in 
from walking, instead of being taken up-stairs ! 
If the lady of the house has to exercise a con- 
stant oversight to keep her drawing-room in 
decent order, what must be the toil and tor- 
ment of those who have to look after matters 
up-stairs ! Of course all these faults are equally 
bad at home ; but many, who from the family 
habits, or from being under the check of paren- 
tal superintendence, cannot indulge them there, 
give way, when absent from home, to thought- 
lessness and inconsideration, and thus fall into 
the bad practices alluded to. 

To keep our engagements — no matter how 
unimportant they may seem — is a moral obli- 
gation, the neglect of which often occasions 
much irritation. To put others to inconve- 
nience on our account by an engagement, and 
then without any sufficient reason, or from mere 
whim or caprice, to break it, is a clear violation 
of duty. We have already referred to a want 
of punctuality as a serious fault. We allude 
to it again to say that it is especially annoying 
in relation to social worship and meals in well- 



MINOR MORALS. 81 



regulated families. To be in season for a jour- 
ney, or walk, or reading, or at family prayers, 
or at breakfast, or at public worship, and indeed 
whenever a precise time is fixed for the ob- 
servance of any duty or the fulfilment of any 
appointment, is a rule of universal obligation. 

Young persons from home are apt to over- 
look little duties toward those they leave at 
home. There are sympathies between parents 
and children, brothers and sisters, which should 
be carefully cherished. "To write home," at 
suitable intervals, is a little matter, perhaps; 
but if we are conscious that it gives pleasure, 
should we suffer indolence, or forgetfulness, or 
procrastination to prevent our doing it ? Should 
we not, on the contrary, be glad to give those 
we love some share in our enjoyments, by ex- 
changing on paper those expressions of affec- 
tion and sympathy which our separation will 
not allow to be otherwise uttered. 

Be careful and particular on the subject of 
small debts. There are few things more an- 
noying than recollecting such things afterward, 
except having to pay them for others. Coach- 
hires, postages, a small sum borrowed because 
you had forgotten to bring your purse out with 
you when walking, trifling commissions exe- 



82 MINOR MORALS. 



cuted for you : all these are apt to be forgot- 
ten, and left unpaid ; and as they are seldom 
asked for by those who have accommodated 
you ? it becomes you to be doubly watchful, lest 
you forget to repay them. 

Will it be thought strange if dress is alluded 
to, as among the " things to be thought of" by 
the young; or is there quite enough of con- 
sideration bestowed on that subject already? I 
mean, however, by the thoughts on dress which 
I wish to inculcate, something different from 
what is generally understood or practised in 
this matter ; and perhaps my suggestions may 
save some from thinking so long, or so inces- 
santly upon it, as they are apt to do. 

First, then, let me say, that the frequently 
expressed, though more seldom believed, maxim, 
that it is of little consequence what we wear, is 
not true. It is of considerable consequence, and 
so most people would think if they heard all the 
inferences and innuendos that are drawn and 
hinted as to their characters, from their style 
of dress. Besides the indispensable attention 
to cleanliness and neatness, there ought to be 
thought bestowed upon suitability to the station 
and age of the wearer ; there ought to be at- 
tention paid to the goodness of the materials 



MINOR MORALS. 83 



purchased; and there ought to be enough of 
observation of how others succeed in being be- 
comingly dressed, to enable us to do so like- 
wise. Let this expression, " becomingly dress- 
ed," be taken in its widest sense, as including 
the above hints, and not merely as referring to 
personal appearance, and we cannot go far 
wrong in our practice. Attention to economy 
in dress is another of the " things to be thought 
of" with regard to it, and this is not always to 
be attained by buying cheap goods. Dresses 
judiciously selected as to colour and materials 
last longer, as well as look better, than " bar- 
gains" do; and it is a doubtful point if two 
cheap dresses last as long as one good one. 
The love of bargains, however, is not very com- 
mon to the young. They need guarding rather 
on the points of squandering money upon su- 
perfluities, and of carelessness, or waste of what 
they already possess. This is a sort of thought- 
lessness very contrary to a true, a Christian 
economy, as to those means given to us as 
stewards by God, and for which we are ac- 
countable to him. If by a little self-denial as 
to new purchases, or by a little more care of 
what we already possess, we can afford to serve 
others, surely we cannot doubt the duty of do- 



84 MINOR MORALS. 



ing so, or excuse the selfishness that precludes 
us from this power. 

In the matter of taste in dress, there will be, 
of course, a diversity of opinion. It seems to 
come naturally to some persons, and to fly from 
others all the farther the more they labour 
after it. Plainness and simplicity are pretty 
safe rules for attaining it. A quiet and incon- 
spicuous style of dress is generally ladylike. 

I may conclude this subject with a hint to 
the effect, that we would do well sometimes to 
consider, in purchasing for ourselves, what use 
we can afterward make of our cast-off garments 
by giving them to others ; and to let this con- 
sideration lead us to the plain and useful, 
rather than to the showy and flimsy. It is not 
at all necessary, in following this hint, that a 
lady should dress herself meanly; but those 
who know how valuable to many of their poor 
and humble neighbours is the gift of clothing, 
will gladly, I hope, avail themselves of even 
such a mode of " looking not only at our own 
things, but at the things of others," as to 
render them not only careful of their garments, 
but thoughtful in the purchase of them. 

These hints are intended to apply chiefly to 
those whose means are not so ample as to place 



MINOR MORALS. 85 



them above the need of "thinking twice" on 
the subject, and to them may also be addressed 
a few words on the subject of economy. When 
first young persons become entitled to the dig- 
nity of an allowance, be it much or little, they 
should make it a rule to keep an accurate ac- 
count of its expenditure, and they must remem- 
ber that it is not inexhaustible. Some advice, 
too, should at first be taken as to this expendi- 
ture, for I could bring forward a good many 
laughable instances of the unprofitable invest- 
ment of first-quarter allowances, that left the 
young purchasers somewhat at a loss for more 
essential articles. 

Carefully avoid running in debt, however small 
the amount. The contrary habit is easily acquir- 
ed, and it is a ruinous one, not only on account 
of its immorality, but of its power of deceiving ; 
for the purchases that we pay for soon check 
themselves, while those for which we run in 
debt are soon forgotten, or it may be, are cul- 
pably allowed to slip out of our reckoning, when 
we come to consider how much we are spend- 
ing, or how much we have to spare for some 
other purpose. If you cannot pay for what 
you need or wish now, wait till you can do so 
before you get it, or do without it for a time. 



86 MINOR MORALS. 



Better, far better, the temporary pain of self- 
denial, than the sin of wilfully or carelessly 
incurred debt. 

Do not spend money recklessly and profusely 
upon any object. Do not mistake extravagance 
for generosity, for they are very different, and 
indeed incompatible things. Do not think, be- 
cause you have little to spend, that you can 
stand in no need of this advice, or that if you 
pay for what you get, there is no harm done. 
Remember your stewardship, — your money is 
no more your own to spend as you like, than 
any of the other talents God has given you ; 
and whether it is a small sum or a large one, it 
was not given to be squandered. Be careful at 
first, when the command of money is new to 
you, of indulging yourself in buying all you 
wish, just because you wish it, and can now 
pay for it. This is a selfish habit to acquire ; 
so do not misspend your means on what you do 
not really need, merely from the love of buy- 
ing, — and never buy tra^h because it is cheap. 
Do not grudge a little thought and trouble to 
enable you to regulate your expenditure pro- 
perly, so as to enable you to give to others, as 
well as to fulfil your own reasonable desires 
and requirements. No scheme of expenditure 



MINOR MORALS. 87 



should be considered a right one in which there 
is not a liberal allowance made for the claims of 
charity ; and no economy can be allowed any 
other name than parsimony, which saves from 
any other motive than to increase the power 
and privilege of giving more largely to those 
who need. 

Economy, however, may be exercised on 
other matters than money. It ought to be ap- 
plied to whatever is valuable ; and in this sense 
of the word, economy of time is as necessary to 
be thought of as economy in money matters. A 
wise economist of either will not grudge neces- 
sary outlay, but neither will he waste or lose 
the one or the other. There is a sauntering 
way of doing things — a minute trifling in work 
— that, in reality, wastes as much precious time 
as more open idleness does ; while there is some- 
times a careless hurry, or a grudging careful- 
ness in spending such time as perhaps we would 
prefer to employ on something else, that as 
effectually defeats the end in view as if we had 
omitted the duty altogether. 

Among the many and important things that 
the apostle Paul, in his Epistle to the Philip- 
pians, desires them to " think on," are included 
" whatsoever things are lovely and of good re- 



88 MINOR MORALS. 



port ;" and on this ground ought not good and 
pleasing manners to be more thought of and 
more practised by the young ? It will not do 
at your age to say, that habit has so fixed your 
manner that you cannot alter it, and that as it 
means nothing, you ought not to be blamed for 
mere manner. 

Think on these things, and you will find, I 
fear, that faults of manner almost always spring 
from faults of character or feeling, and can only 
be cured by attacking them at the source. Ig- 
norance is a frequent cause of a faulty manner 
in the young. They are apt, under its influence, 
to give their opinions too decidedly, — to blame 
where they cannot see half the reasons or mo- 
tives at work, — to have a self-satisfied and con- 
ceited manner, or an interfering and dictatorial 
way, that is most disagreeable and quite opposed 
to the humility becoming their years. 

The forms and modes of egotism are so va- 
rious and numerous, that they can but be re- 
ferred to here. Assuredly this habit of mind, 
or fault of manner, is neither lovely nor of good 
report, but is one of so insidious a nature, and 
of such frequent occurrence, that I fear it is 
often unknown to the person exercising it, or 
never thought of as a fault at all. We are all 



MINOR MORALS. 89 



ready enough to condemn it in our neighbours, 
to blame it as springing from self-esteem, from 
disregard of others, or from petty vanity ; but 
there are egotistical people who are neither 
selfish nor vain, and perhaps the worst we can 
say of them is that they are tiresome. The 
fault is more frequent in those with uncultivated 
minds than in the educated. It seems almost 
as if they must necessarily fall into it, if they 
do not degenerate into gossips about their neigh- 
bour's concerns ; and this fact is one of the many 
arguments in favour of cultivating and enrich- 
ing the mind, not only with solid acquirements, 
but with accomplishments. It is no sin to be 
tiresome, certainly, when we cannot help it ; 
but it so often proceeds from narrow-minded ig- 
norance, or loquacious, trifling egotism, or even 
from an uncultivated imagination, that it ought 
to be guarded against, as far as the means of 
improving the mind are within our reach. 

Self-control, in its higher manifestations, is 
too important a subject to be brought forward 
among such fragmentary hints as those with 
w r hich we are now engaged ; but there are minor 
matters in which it were well that the young 
should learn to practise it, both in relation to 
inward and outward things — in regard to mind 
8* 



90 MINOR MORALS. 



as well as to manner. Acting from heedless 
impulse, giving utterance to sudden and hasty 
words (no sooner spoken than regretted) and 
levity of manner, frequently arising from high 
and uncurbed spirits, over which often ere long 
they deeply mourn, are the fruits of a want 
of that proper self-control which serves as 
a check to our first impulsive impressions, as 
well as a guide in carrying them into effect in a 
sedate and regulated manner, when ascertained 
to be well-founded. Self-control in great and 
in small matters (whether in character or man- 
ner) is indeed a high and difficult attainment ; 
but it is well worthy of whatever it costs to 
attain it, being the necessary ballast to enable 
us to " do all things decently, and in order," 
as well as to adorn our profession by the graces 
that are lovely and of good report. 

" Finally, whatsoever things are true, what- 
soever things are honest, whatsoever things are 
just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever 
things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good 
report ; if there be any virtue, and if there be 
any praise, think on these things/' Phil. iv. 8. 

THE END. 



